17 Kids !!

Ok people - you have to check out this site - it's amazing !

http://www.duggarfamily.com/

I am still gobsmacked to say the least ! I can't get enough of these exclamation marks !!

Lara xxxooo

Salzburg Day Trip

Hello

Spent the day in Salzburg today with Mum and Dad and Charly. Had a wander around the old pedestrian area and checked out Mozarts birth house. Had a nice coffee and then lunch up on the hill behind the town.

Stumbled upon a good day as there was a town fair in the centre and there were heaps of rides for kids and so Charly made the most of the afternoon. Hence, we missed the castle but will just have to do another day there to check out the castle.

Just some photos to look at.





xxxooo

Progress Update

Hey All,

Just a few more photos of the building site. It's getting there slowly. The floors are in everywhere except for the guestroom. Here is part of the top floor:


This is the first floor living area:


The painter/plasterer still has a heap to do and the guestroom is coming along fine. I have been promised that it will be finished for the 23rd of October when Karl comes to visit us - yahoo !! Yes you read correctly - my bro Karl will be here at the same time as Mum and Dad - wow - last time that happened was Xmas 2005 in NZ. This is how your room is looking at the moment Karl.


The rest of the traditional windows are coming tomorrow and it will take a few days before they are in properly. We chose these windows to suit the style of the outside of our house which was built in 1842 - it's a bit old you see. So putting modern windows in would have completely killed the look of the place. It's going to be a love/hate relationship with these babies from day one though unfortunately. They look fantastic but each window has 24 panes of glass - understand what I am saying ?


The kitchen is finished and it's green - not just normal green but GREEN - just something funky for the next 3 or 4 years until we rip it out and chuck it away and turn the kitchen into a seperate bathroom for Charly and the real kitchen moves upstairs. We basically have given it an el-cheapo makeover to make it look a bit cleaner and brighter.


Dad is helping lots as you can see and Charly is just hanging around in her tutu !!



That's all for now folks. Lara, Mike & Charly xxxooo

Ballet Lessons & Kindergarten

Hey People

Charly started ballet lessons last week and man it was cute. She is such a tomboy and it totally surprises me that she is interested. Here she is with her best friend Elisa ready to go:


They did a dwarf dance and were practising pointing their toes and getting around on tippie toes etc.

So cute to watch and I just had to get her an outfit for the first day otherwise she would have been the only one without it.

We have also started Kindergarten gymnastics once a week which she also loves. Busy, busy.

On the 5th of September we started Kindergarten as well. She has been allocated to the town Kindergarten which is the same one that Mike went to as a kid. It only has 2 groups of 24 kids and is fantastic. They do a heap of things and this year's theme is "Children around the World". Kinda fits as she is a full-on mix of NZ/Austrian/Dutch/Russian - WOW ! Charly is in the "Sunkid" group and has two really nice "Aunties". They have a huge garden outside and as long as they weather allows it they are outside every day. Even in winter they get all dressed up in their snow gears and head off up to the nearby slopes to go tobogganing etc. The make their own morning tea once a week and last week they baked their own bread. Some kids get to go shopping and some bake and then they swap around the next week. Charly got to go shopping which she loved. They go on lots of excursions as well and the room that they have is great. They are already learning things like cleaning up after their morning tea and seperating the rubbish for recycling, proper greeting including shaking hands etc., tidying up after playing and heaps more - great !!

Here she is sitting with "Aunty Bettina" on her first day. Most days I have a problem getting her to go home with me as she loves it so much. It was an easy start as three kids that went to playgroup with her are also there and another 5 kids that she already knows through my girlfriends and numerous afternoons at the park together with all my friends and their kids over the last 2 and a half years. Really helped with starting on the first day. I was lucky I got a kiss goodbye from her.


Love Lara, Mike & Charly xxxooo

Dutch Visit

Hello All

Just a couple of photos of our surprise dutch visit from Ria and Frits here in Kitzbühel. Mum and Dad didn't know a thing and I organised it with Ria and Frits so it was a great surprise.



I told Mum and Dad we had to pick up a packet at the train station on the way to the birthday lunch on the mountain and guess what the packet was at the train station ... Ria and Frits. They thought it was great.

We all had lunch up on a mountain restaurant in Kitz and the sun even came out !! Yahoo !! They are all in town having a mega gossip/chat session at the moment.

Ria and Frits are looking well and Mum and Dad too. Charly slept the night with Oma and Opa last night and I am not sure who was more excited about it all. She was a perfect kid apparently and even said she wanted to go to sleep after only one book - wow !!

Ria and Frits are staying until Tuesday lunchtime. Just a short visit but still lovely. They were in Austria at Ria's cousins house and decided to make a pit stop on the way home. Great idea.

Charly with Ria and Frits:



OK take care people.

Lara, Mike & Charly xxxooo